Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the only way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons was by setting “a clear red line” to stop its atomic program.

“At this late hour, there is only one way to peacefully prevent Iran from getting atomic bombs and that’s by placing a clear red line on Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” Netanyahu said in a speech at the UN General Assembly. “Red lines don’t lead to war; red lines prevent war.”

Netanyahu said Iran had completed the first stage of uranium enrichment, saying “they are 70% of the way there.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly argued that time is running out to stop the Islamic Republic from becoming a nuclear power and the threat of force must be seriously considered.

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Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks suggesting that if Iran’s uranium enrichment program continues it may soon stage a unilateral military strike, flouting even American wishes.

Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran to be an existential threat, citing Iranian denials of the Holocaust, its calls for Israel’s destruction, its development of missiles capable of striking the Jewish state and its support for hostile Arab militant groups.

“Given this record of Iranian aggression without nuclear weapons, just imagine Iranian aggression with nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.

His demand that President Barack Obama declare “red lines” that would trigger an American attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has been rejected in Washington and sparked a public rift between the two leaders.

The Obama administration has urgently sought to hold off Israeli military action, which would likely result in the U.S. being pulled into a conflict and cause region-wide mayhem on the eve of American elections.

“Israel and the U.S. have a common goal to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The prime minister’s remarks drawing a red line will help that this is attained,” a senior official said.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said this is not the first time that there have been disagreements between the positions of Israel and the United States and that this will not “in any way harm the strong friendship between the two countries.”

Netanyahu claims international diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions have failed to deter Iran, but a new report from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, leaked Thursday, concludes that sanctions are at least hitting Iran hard economically. According to the report, details of which appeared in the Haaretz newspaper, Iran’s oil exports declined by over 50% in the past year and sanctions on Iran’s central bank have made it difficult for the regime to access its foreign currency.

An Israeli official confirmed the new report but refused to elaborate on it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal government documents.

Netanyahu’s time at the UN podium gives him an opportunity in front of the international community to press his case once again, perhaps in a final plea before Israel takes matters into its own hands. Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks suggesting that if Iran’s uranium enrichment program continues it may soon stage a unilateral military strike, flouting even American wishes.

The Obama administration has urgently sought to hold off Israeli military action, which would likely result in the U.S. being pulled into a conflict and cause region-wide mayhem on the eve of American elections.

Such an attack would almost certainly lead to retaliatory Iranian missile strikes on Israeli population centres. On Sunday, Iranian leaders suggested they may strike Israeli preemptively if they feel threatened.

Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran to be an existential threat, citing Iranian calls for Israel’s destruction, Iran’s development of missiles capable of striking the Jewish state and its support for hostile Arab militant groups.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also addressed the General Assembly on Thursday, accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing for building settlements in east Jerusalem.

“It is a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people via the demolition of their homes,” Abbas said in his speech.

Israel conquered the eastern part of Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Mideast War. It later annexed it, but the move has not been internationally recognized. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to the capital of their future state in the West Bank.

Abbas also said he has opened talks on a new bid for international recognition at the UN, but didn’t specify exactly when he will ask the General Assembly to vote.

“Intensive consultations with the various regional organizations and the state members” were under way, he said.

The Palestinians will apply to the General Assembly for nonmember state status. That stands in sharp contrast to last year, when they asked the Security Council to admit them as a full member state, but the bid failed.

Abbas insisted that the new quest for recognition was “not seeking to delegitimize Israel, but rather establish a state that should be established: Palestine.”

Palestinian officials said their bid is likely to be submitted on Nov. 29.

Also Thursday, on the sidelines of the General Assembly, key figures will gather for a Friends of Yemen meeting that will be co-chaired by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Ministe Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Abdullah. The meeting will produce a communique aimed at generating support for Hadi, who took office in February after more than a year of political turmoil and is now trying to steer his country’s democratic transition.

Later, political directors from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany will be meeting on the Iranian nuclear issue.

A few hours before Netanyahu flew to the U.S., Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, known for past fiery denunciations of the United States and Israel, spoke at length about his vision for a “new world order” during his speech at the U.N. His address on Wednesday happened to fall on Yom Kippur, the most sacred day on the Jewish calendar, devoted to fasting, prayer and introspection.

Netanyahu issued a statement condemning the speech soon after the fast ended. “On the day when we pray to be inscribed in the book of life a platform was given to a dictatorial regime that strives, at every opportunity, to sentence us to death,” Netanyahu said. ’In my remarks to the UN General Assembly, they will hear my response. History has proven that those who have wanted to wipe us off the map have failed, as the Jewish People have overcome all obstacles,“ Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu has said he is going to the UN to draw attention to what Israel perceives as the Iranian threat. Speaking to his Cabinet on Sunday, he said at the UN he would “reiterate that the most dangerous country in the world must not be allowed to arm itself with the most dangerous weapon in the world.” He did not elaborate.

On Tuesday, the Maariv daily reported that Netanyahu would spell out what limits the international community should set for Iran to prevent it from becoming a nuclear power and how long that will take. Netanyahu has never laid out these limits precisely.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes but Israel, the U.S. and other Western allies suspect otherwise. Four rounds of UN sanctions have already been placed on Iran.

A UN report last month only reinforced Israeli fears, finding that Iran has moved more of its uranium enrichment activities into fortified bunkers deep underground where they are impervious to air attack. Enrichment is a key activity in building a bomb, though it has other uses as well, such as producing medical isotopes.

While Israel is convinced that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon, American officials believe Iran has not yet made a final decision to take the plunge, even as it develops much of the infrastructure needed to do so.

Obama has repeatedly said he will not allow Iran to gain nuclear weapons and has said the U.S. would be prepared to use force as a last resort. But in an interview Sunday with “60 Minutes” he also vowed to “block out any noise that’s out there” on the issue, in an apparent swipe at Netanyahu.

Israel’s timeline for military action is shorter than that of the United States, which has far more powerful bunker-busting bombs at its disposal, and there is great suspicion in Israel over whether in the moment of truth Obama will follow through on his pledge.

Netanyahu has a history of fiery speeches at the UN General Assembly.

In 2009, he waved the blueprints for the Nazi death camp Aushwitz and invoked the memory of his own family members murdered by the Nazis while making his case against Iran’s Holocaust denial and threats to destroy Israel.

To those who remained at the General Assembly while Ahmadinejad spoke, he chastised: “Have you no shame? Have you no decency?”

And last year, he warned the world about the threat of militant Islam and Iran.

During his three-day visit, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper — who recently expelled the Iranian ambassador from his country — and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He is not scheduled to meet Obama.

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